KIDS’ STUFF—Madeline Mabry, 16, is surrounded by boxes filled with soccer equipment that she will donate to the American Youth Soccer Organization. This is the third year that Madeline, a junior at La Reina High School, has collected used equipment for disadvantaged youth teams. When 16-year-old Oak Park resident Madeline Mabry went to her American Youth Soccer Organization picture day on a recent Saturday, she did more than smile for her team photo. For the third straight year, Madeline used the annual gathering of local soccer families to collect used cleats, shin guards, balls and jerseys for distribution to disadvantaged youth teams.

Under the banner of “Cleats 4 Kids,” the junior from La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks collected an overflowing amount of used equipment, culminating a collecting program that begins when many families purchase new equipment each August.

Uniforms, cleats and balls went to a youth league in El Salvador this year, while previous year’s collections were sent to Compton United in South Central Los Angeles.

Ray Caldwell, board member for Compton United, said “those kids get an early Christmas each year thanks to Madeline’s efforts.”

“I’ve played soccer since I was 5,” Madeline said while sorting through the donated equipment in her parents’ garage over the weekend. “Most of this equipment is in perfect condition because kids grow out of their cleats so quickly. I realized that the box of last year’s stuff wasn’t doing anyone any good sitting here so I decided to do something about it and start Cleats 4 Kids.”

David Toone, an AYSO Region 4 Referee Commission member, supplied sets of uniforms, cleats and balls collected by Cleats 4 Kids to new teams in a youth league in El Salvador just in time for tournaments taking place in October.

“The coaches in El Salvador were delighted,” Toone said. “This equipment is difficult to obtain in the poor Central American economy.” The children were grateful, and Toone hopes to send more in the future.

To prepare the equipment for distribution, Madeline will spend weekends sorting the old uniforms into team-friendly colors and sizes. Madeline, her siblings and friends will tie the laces of more than 100 pairs of cleats to keep them together during shipping and distribution.

“It’s great to see Maddy, as a player representing AYSO Region 4, organize such a great event and enlist our community to help others in a very meaningful way,” said Jim Pieczynski, AYSO Region 4 board member.

“Maddy is a true class act with a heart of gold,” said Ron Elazar, Madeline’s three-time AYSO coach.

Anyone who has old equipment in the garage can arrange a donation by emailing Madeline at cleats4kidscharity@gmail.com.

Madeline hopes to expand to other AYSO regions and distribute even more to less fortunate kids.